Vance Says ‘Corporate Media’ Coverage of Minnesota Shooting Irresponsible

Reading from his cellphone, Vance cited a CNN headline that reads ‘Outrage after I.C.E. officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.’

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Vice President JD Vance speak during a news briefing at the White House on Jan. 8, 2026. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Vice President JD Vance said on Jan. 8 that the “corporate media” was irresponsible in its coverage of the fatal shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minnesota.

“I think it’s really irresponsible for you guys to go out there and imply or tell the American people that a guy who defended himself from being rammed by an automobile is guilty of murder,” he said during a news briefing at the White House.

The briefing came a day after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good drove her car toward an ICE agent during an operation by the agency in Minneapolis. The ICE agent shot Good, whose car then crashed into another vehicle.

Reading from his cellphone, Vance cited a CNN headline that reads “Outrage after I.C.E. officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.” The vice president then criticized the news media in general over its coverage of the shooting.

“Well, that’s one way to put it, and that is the way that many people in the corporate media have put this attack over the last 24 hours,” he said. “And I say ‘attack’ very, very intentionally, because this was an attack on federal law enforcement.

“This was an attack on law and order. This was an attack on the American people.

“The way that the media, by and large, has reported the story has been an absolute disgrace, and it puts our law enforcement officers at risk every single day.”

Vance then returned to the CNN headline, saying it omitted that the officer was almost killed by a driver six months ago, and his injury required 33 stitches in his leg. He also lamented that the headline does not mention that Good interfered with a law enforcement operation and that she was “part of a broader leftwing network to attack, to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible for our officers to do their job.”

A CNN spokesperson told The Epoch Times that the network stands by its story.

The Trump administration said that the agent was acting in self-defense.

“The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense,” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the Jan. 8 White House press briefing, “President Trump and his entire administration stand fully behind the heroic men and women of ICE, and will always uphold law and order in the United States of America.”

Democrats in Minnesota criticized ICE following the shooting.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to leave the city, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz suggested that there may not be a fair investigation into the shooting if the state is not involved.

“I’ve seen the video,” Walz said in an X post. “Don’t believe this propaganda machine. The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice.”

Speaking at a press briefing, Walz said, “We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt.”